Virginia Trucking Accident Attorney Blog » safety

Tolls Approved for Virginia Portion of I-95

rshapiro — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:56:26 +0000

By Rick Shapiro, Virginia Trucking Accident Injury Attorney

My colleague John Cooper has written a new blog post for our Virginia personal injury attorneys’ website in which he notes that federal authorities have approved plans to place tolls on the section of always dangerous I-95 that runs through Virginia. The move is expected to generate monies to fund safety projects on a highway that has seen a number of serious truck crashes.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling truck accident cases. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in NC, South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury attorneys host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. Check out our case results. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial consultations so give us a call at (800) 752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call.

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Roadside Tractor-Trailer, Bus Safety Inspections Save Lives

jcooper — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 08:29:38 +0000

By John Cooper, Truck and Bus Accident Injury Attorney

Everyday seems to bring news of another tractor-trailer or tour bus crash on East Coast interstates in which the commercial vehicle’s driver or someone in a car, pickup or SUV suffered injuries or got killed. Too often, the wreck was caused by the big rig or bus. And too many times, the at-fault driver lacked the proper training, license or health — the trucker was sick or impaired by drugs or alcohol. Sometimes, the vehicle itself was unsafe because it had bad tires, inadequate equipment, even a poor hitch between cab and trailer.

Roadside inspections can get potentially dangerous drivers, 18-wheelers and large buses off the road before accidents happen. Recognizing this, trucking and busing groups, state and local police departments, and the Federal Motor Carrier Association have teamed up for years to support random checks of commercial trucks and buses.

A state in which a cooperative random roadside safety inspection program is working particularly well is Pennsylvania (PA), There, according to the Pocono Times, the 2010 Pennsylvania Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program made it possible for “more than 93,000 random truck inspections [to be] conducted across the state, a 14 percent increase from 2009.”

In Virginia (VA), where tour bus crashes on interstates recently claimed several lives and injured dozens more, state troopers participated in Roadcheck 2011 during early June. The goal of that operation was to ensure more than 70,000 truckers, trucks, bus drivers and buses were interviewed and inspected across Canada, Mexico and the United States to increase safety.

Such programs work — up to a point. FMCSA data show that the rate of fatal crashes per 100 million miles traveled by large trucks and buses have fallen consistently from 3.82 in 2008 to 1.17 in 2010. The goal, of course, is 0 per every mile traveled.

Still, as a Virginia-based attorney who has often represented victims of trucking accidents, I’m encouraged by the trend. Unsafe vehicles and drivers have no business doing business on U.S. highways. I’d like to see programs that encourage and support roadside inspections of commercial vehicles extended.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling truck accident cases. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in NC, South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury attorneys host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. Check out our case results. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial consultations so give us a call at (800) 752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call.

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Thousands of GM Pickup Trucks Recalled

jcooper — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 02:17:14 +0000

By John Cooper, Virginia Beach Trucking Accident Injury Attorney

In a new post to our Virginia personal injury attorneys’ website, my colleague Kevin Duffan reports on a General Motors recall of more than 9,000 pickup trucks. The 2011 Chevrolet Colorado and GM Canyon trucks “may have been built with an automotive transmission clip that could slip and inaccurately show the position of the transmission gear,”a Reuters report in the Daily Press states. With the massive recalls at Toyota still fresh in our minds, faults that can lead to injury are of concern.

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Top Ten Safe Summer Driving Tips From Commercial Truck Drivers

rshapiro — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:50:46 +0000

By John Cooper, VA Truck Accident Injury Attorney

Like too many previous celebration of America’s independence, Fourth of July 2011 has the potential to be a deadly diving day on the roads and highways of Virginia (VA), North Carolina (NC) and every other state. Citing National Highway Transportation Safety Administration statistics, msn.com noted that the days leading up to and including July 4 regularly see more fatal car, truck, motorcycle and SUV accidents than any other holiday weekend.

“In the summer of 2008 …, 491 people died in car accidents during the three-day Fourth of July weekend. Out of that total, 43 percent died as a result of alcohol-impaired driving,” the website reported.

As a Virginia Beach, VA-based personal injury attorney who has represented injury and wrongful death victims following car and truck wrecks for nearly 25 years, I know firsthand that no crash that kills or injures is a welcome event. But accidents at otherwise happy times can be especially devastating.

In an effort to keep traffic accidents to a minimum this July 4th, and all summer long and year round, the American Trucking Associations, recently published the top 10 safe driving tips from commercial truck drivers. While the advice is specifically intended to prevent collisions between 18-wheelers, semis, tanker trucks, flatbeds and smaller vehicles, following this advice from people who have logged literally millions of miles behind the wheels of big rigs should help everyone reach their destination safely every time.

Prepare Your Vehicle: Checking your radiator, oil, and wipers and getting any necessary maintenance can help you avoid many of the problems that strand motorists on the side of the road.
Check and Inflate Your Tires to the Proper Pressure: Overinflated tires can blow out. Underinflated tires make your vehicle harder to control. And having too much or too little air in your tires lowers your vehicle’s fuel efficiency.
Drive the Speed Limit: Observing posted speed limits saves money on gas and reduces wear and tear on vehicles. Resisting the urge to speed also makes any driver or motorcyclist more safe. Maintaining a constant speed can reduce fuel costs by 30 percent and give you more time to react to changing road conditions or mistakes by other motorists.
Remember That Large Trucks Have Large Blind Spots: Drivers of tractor-trailers and 18-wheelers simply cannot see you if you are beside their rigs. If you can’t see a trucker driver in his or her rearview mirror, the truck driver can’t see you.
Keep Bottled Water in Your Vehicle: A summer emergency kit containing extra water, sunsreen and nonperishable food in addition to flares and tools is as essential as a winter driving kit containing a blanket and chemical hand and foot warmers. Never allow yourself to get stranded without emergency supplies.
Park Safely Out of Traffic Before Using Your Cell Phone or Any Other Handheld Electronic Device: Taking your eyes and mind off the road and vehicles around you for even two seconds doubles your chance of causing or being involved in a crash.
Do Not Cut Off Large Trucks: The longer and heavier a truck is, the longer its driver needs to stop. Keep that in mind when changing lanes in front of big rig.
Honor Right-of-Way When Merging and Turning: You must yield to oncoming traffic whenever you enter a highway from an on-ramp, use an off-ramp or make a right- or left-hand turn from a light, intersection or parking lot. When you do merge, get up to highway speed quickly and do not slow down in front of an 18-wheeler or semi.
Respond Calmly to Emergencies: If you get in trouble, put on your emergency blinkers and slow down smoothly before coming to a stop on a shoulder or in an emergency lane. Do not stop in the flow of traffic and, at the same time, move over or slow down when approaching police, broken down vehicles or road crews beside the road.
Save Fuel: Take direct routes, make few side trips and keep your engine well-tuned. You’ll see noticeable savings on fuel and lower your chances of running out of gas when stuck in traffic.

Stay safe, and have a great Fourth.

EJL

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Tour Bus Rear-Ends Flatbed Truck on I-80 in Pennsylvania

jcooper — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:59:06 +0000

By John Cooper, Trucking Accident Injury Attorney

In her latest post to our Virginia personal injury law firm website, my colleague Emily Mapp Brannon, writes about how a tour bus rear-ended a flatbed truck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on June 27, 2011. The crash claimed the life of the bus driver and hurt about 22 passengers. It’s one of at least a dozen serious crashes involving tour buses since February of this year.

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Firefighter Killed By Big Rig

rshapiro — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:22:56 +0000

By Rick Shapiro, Personal Injury Attorney

When we hear in the news that a fire fighter has been killed, we expect it to be while in the line of duty, not in a car accident. So I was surprised and saddened to learn of the death of a Clifton Forge Firefighter, Mr. Ashley Weikle.

Ashley was killed in a fatal crash on Interstate 64 (I-64) in Roanoke, Virginia (VA) on Dec. 3, 2010. He was involved in a head on accident with another tractor trailer. According to state police, the at-fault driver ran off the left side of the interstate, crossed the median and hit Ashley, sending the cab of his truck plunging into the river.

Our deepest condolences go out to his family. It is terrible to lose someone in a preventable accident, even more so during this time of year.

The driver of the other big rig was not hurt but was charged with reckless driving.

There is no word yet why the at-fault drive lost control, but the power, size and weight of a commercial tractor-trailer make the impact of a truck collision much worse and the chance of serious injury and death much higher. The death rate for truck crashes is 50 percent higher than for car accidents, and many injuries may cause life-long disability and permanent or chronic health problems.
CA.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and our attorneys have experience handling truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free, initial consultations so give us a call at 1-800-752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call promptly. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY, FL and DC. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

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Slow Driver Causes Fiery Crash With Big Rig

rshapiro — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:42:31 +0000

By Richard Shapiro, Personal Injury Attorney

Have you ever been driving behind a car that just refuses to hit the gas and go? A tractor-trailer driver had just that problem on I-95. Unfortunately the driver was going so slowly that it caused the big-rig to crash. Find out more.

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Little Known Facts on Tractor-Trailer Dangers

bmurray — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:34:35 +0000

by Jim Lewis, Virginia Trucking Accident Attorney

Most people have little idea of just exactly how dangerous a tractor trailer can be. If you think about the simple physics regarding the size of an 18 wheeler then it becomes more clear how especially hazardous they can be when it comes to collisions and accidents.

For example, here are just a few numbers representing this danger:

I would like to point out that these statistics are alarming and even so, most folks have no idea of the danger.

* 98% of tractor-trailer-related fatalities involve the other vehicle’s driver or passengers – not the driver of the tractor-trailer.

*Big-Rig related fatalities are estimated at close to 5,000 people a year.

*18-wheelers accidents cause approximately 55,000 injuries a year

*An estimated 130,000 tractor trailer accidents occur each year without injury

Did you know that road conditions have very little to do with semi tractor trailer accidents?

It is a popular misconception that road conditions play a major role in serious tractor-trailer accidents, when this is actually when most truck drivers are especially careful and mindful of inclement weather or slick roads. The fact remains that this is not when the largest proportion of tractor-trailer accidents happen.

*Well over 80% of all tractor-trailer accidents occur on dry roads.

*Again, over 80% of big-rig accidents happen during perfectly normal weather conditions.

*Surprisingly, almost 70% of tractor-trailer accidents occur during broad daylight.

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Trucking Industry Endorses Bill to Restrict Texting while Driving

paustin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:30:40 +0000

By Rick Shapiro

Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis, & Appleton

The American Truckers Association (ATA) has been waffling on their support for an anti-texting bill crafted by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), but recently decided to endorse the legislative initiative.

This isn’t very surprising since the bill hasn’t reached the Senate floor for a vote, so there’s plenty of time to implement exemptions the trucking industry has been angling for since the bill – officially known as the Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers Act – was introduced by Sen. Schumer.

What exemptions? The trucking industry relies heavily on electronic communication devices in their trucks to relay directions and commands to the drivers. They’re probably looking for ways to ensure those devices stay in the trucks without much alteration. It’s unclear how far the proposed legislation will go in terms of restricting these devices for interstate trucking work, if at all. There is already an exemption in the bill for texting “in case of an emergency.”

I hope the trucking industry focuses their efforts on moving towards voice-activated communication devices as opposed to lobbying Congress for special exemptions to devices which produce basically the same level of distracted driving as texting. The truck drivers still have to look down to type in directions and implement commands from headquarters. That takes their eyes off the road and puts them, along with all of us on the road, in danger.

I appreciate the ATA’s endorsement of the anti-texting bill, but let’s hope they are truly committed to truck safety and not merely trying to look good in front of the general public and trying to work their way around the restrictions in the back rooms of Congress.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and our attorneys have experience handling truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

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Virginia Man Not Wearing Seat Belt Killed in Truck Accident

paustin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:32:20 +0000

By Jim Lewis

Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis, & Appleton

Ronald Cook of Bedford County, Virginia (VA) was enjoying a ride in his Chevy Avalanche when, suddenly, his truck flipped over on Virginia Route 24 and ended his life. Mr. Cook was not wearing his seatbelt, according to Newsadvance.com.

My condolences go out to Mr. Cook’s friends and family.

Hopefully, this tragic accident highlights the importance of wearing your seat belt at all times when you’re driving. There are some drivers, especially people who have big trucks and SUVs, who feel they’re safe due to the sheer size of the vehicle and neglect their seat belt. Clearly, this is wrong and probably contributes to the fact that 63 percent of people killed in automobile accidents are not wearing their seat belt, according to car-accidents.com.

This needs to change. As an injury lawyer who regularly represents people seriously hurt in car and truck accidents, I’ve seen the physical damage that can be done when an individual fails to wear their seat belt. Even if you avoid death, the chances of suffering a serious injury such as a broken neck or neck, loss of limbs, facial disfiguration, burns, etc. escalate precipitously.

Seat belts save, on average, over 9,500 lives each year. I cannot overemphasize the importance of a seat belt. It could mean the difference between life and death, regardless of the vehicle you drive.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and our attorneys have experience handling truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

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